350-501 Services Practice Question
A service provider is deploying a point-to-point Layer 2 VPN across an MPLS network using Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS) with Martini encapsulation. The customer requires transparent transport of VLAN tags (Q-in-Q) between two sites. The provider configures the attachment circuits on the PE routers as VLAN subinterfaces with dot1q encapsulation. After configuration, the customer reports that only untagged frames pass through the pseudowire; double-tagged frames are dropped at the egress PE. Which action resolves the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between 'dot1q' and 'dot1q second-dot1q' encapsulation on subinterfaces, where candidates mistakenly think that standard dot1q encapsulation will preserve double tags, but it actually strips the outer tag before encapsulation into the pseudowire.
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Why each option matters
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Correct answer & explanation
✓
Change the encapsulation on the PE subinterfaces to dot1q second-dot1q and enable the preservation of the outer VLAN tag at the ingress PE
EoMPLS with Martini encapsulation (RFC 4448) supports Q-in-Q transparent transport only when the ingress PE is configured to preserve the outer VLAN tag. Using 'dot1q second-dot1q' encapsulation on the subinterface tells the PE to treat the outer tag as part of the payload and not strip it, allowing both tags to be carried across the pseudowire. Without this, the default dot1q encapsulation strips the outer tag, causing double-tagged frames to be dropped at the egress PE.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-501 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-501 exam.